Soil has many lives: it moderates the carbon cycle, serves as the foundation for vegetation and food, and is ascribed different values and meanings by populations worldwide. Soil degradation, a result of environmental toxicities and climate change-related events such as extreme heat and erosion, not only depletes soil productivity but disrupts the relationships people have formed with geographic spaces throughout history, and the knowledge embedded in those relationships. In this panel we will discuss the different ways that soil connects and disrupts us in the era of climate change. Scholars and practitioners will describe the nature of that degradation and its effects on public health, struggles for food sovereignty, and its role of soil in the production of climate-vulnerable landscapes.
